Though this isn’t specifically about South Africa, it’s a great example of how smart organizations are tapping into the extraordinary popularity of soccer and soccer players throughout the world: UN unites with European soccer stars to “red card” global hunger.

In a nutshell, the weekend of 20-22 March all games played in major football leagues throughout Europe will raise money to help the UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) fund its TeleFood “micro-project” initiative.

“The money raised from the campaign will finance FAO TeleFood micro-projects designed to provide solutions to poor families and communities by giving them the know-how and means to produce their own food.”

Terrific cause and idea. Very fun. If you’re in England, Spain, Germany or Italy that week, do go to a game and help raise funds for the TeleFood project to help combat hunger, a problem faced by 1 billion people worldwide.